Page 41 of Battling the Enemy
I brought my face down closer to hers. “Just, what?”
Everyone around us were having their own side conversations, but you could tell there was still some tension at the table. This wasn’t like when Ramsey got together with Emerson, or Liam finally claimed Roselyn. We were already connected in some way, shape, or form; Emerson friends with Roselyn, Roselyn involved with me and Liam…
Delaney was new.
She was new to our group, making her an outsider until she committed to me completely. While I was completely committed to her, it was her committing to me that we were all waiting on.
“Just…just don’t ignore me again like this morning,” she muttered. “That wasn’t cool considering…”
I hitched my shoulder, forcing her to lift her head. I reached over, grabbed her, and straddled her across my lap. She gasped but didn’t fight me. And since it was just us-the people I trusted-I didn’t care if they overheard or not. “I thought you needed some space after this weekend,” I told her before admitting, “I needed some space, too.”
Her big chocolate eyes looked so serious. “Space from me?”
I shook my head. “No. Space from knowing I was going to have to tell you about Roselyn, sooner or later.” She nodded in understanding. “Are you okay with…that?”
“Do I have a choice,” she asked, instead of answering.
I shook my head. “No,” I told her honestly. “You don’t. You don’t have a choice in any of this, Delaney, and I’m not going to lie to you and let you believe you do.”
She was quiet for a few seconds before asking, “Why?”
I knew what she was really asking, she just didn’t want to voice the words for fear of rejection, and I didn’t blame her. She’s spent her entire life being invisible to everyone who she was supposed to matter to. Ava was her only rock; a girl whose reputation was as horrible as her temper had been her only champion.
“Because I love you,” I answered, my voice strong and sure.
“You better,” she replied, and I laughed.
I laughed because that’s what you do when you’re happy.
Chapter 26
Delaney~
The rest of the afternoon had been…weird, but I supposed I should get used to it. Deke and I were officially dating and that meant facing the repercussions of that decision, and that included being friends with his friends, and even though they’ve all been nice so far, they were still intimidating as hell.
After convincing Deke that I’d head straight for his place after I took care of some stuff after school, he finally let me tend to life, and part of that was standing in front of Winston’s house, ringing the bell to his front door.
I waited a few minutes assuming he was here since his car was in the driveway. The front door finally swung open and Winston stood in the doorframe, his face looking better, but still bruised. I wondered, briefly, if he was going to need plastic surgery for his cheekbone.
His eyes widened the second he registered it was me. “Delaney?” His head jerked up and his eyes darted around the yard, presumably looking for Deke. When his eyes met mine again, he asked, “What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”
The sincerity in his voice reminded me of the young boy who used to be my friend. It reminded me of the guy I liked enough to have spent the rest of my life with at one point. “Can we talk?”
His eyes blinking, he shook off his surprise and said, “Yeah, sure. Of course.” He stepped back so I could enter his house.
Once I was inside, he shut the door behind him, and the moment wasn’t lost on me. I’ve been in this house a million times growing up. I knew where every room was and how it was decorated. I’ve sat in the Reynolds’ kitchen a gazillion times for luncheons and stuff, but now? I felt so unwelcomed, I wasn’t sure which way to step.
“Are your parent home?” I asked, knowing they probably weren’t. None of our parents were ever home. This town was so littered with unsupervised children, it was unreal.
He was already shaking his head. “No,” he answered. “Last I heard, they were in Japan researching some latest drug and how it affects the pharmaceutical world.” He let out a sad laugh. “Well, my dad is. Mom’s probably shopping.” He jerked his head towards the kitchen. “Want something to drink?”
I nodded my head just for something to do. I felt uncomfortable and…uneasy. Winston’s already seen the writing on the wall, but right now I wasn’t drunk and emotional. Finally having this conversation sober and alert was going to change his life, too.
I sat down at the kitchen island, placing my purse on the counter as I have many times before, and waited while he grabbed a water from the fridge. He placed it down in front of me, then stepped back until his ass hit the counter. He folded his arms over his chest and said, “Okay, Delaney. Let’s get this over with.”
Immediately, I felt…guilty. Guilty and sad. It felt as if I was letting everyone down, and I was powerless to stop it, even though that wasn’t true. All I had to do was walk away from Deke Marlow and life would go on as per usual for Winston, my parents, and the Reynolds.
But I couldn’t.
